Chapter 8- "Making Scents"

Overall, chapter 8 was fairly easy to read compared to the other chapters. This chapter focused more on the olfactory senses and how evolution changed the way an organism captures a scent. When Shubin explained the step-by-step process in how a scent reaches the brain, I was captivated by the intricacy and certainty molecules and neurons obtain to perform different functions; in this case, to smell.

It also interested me that there were two different genes that pertain to smelling: air and water. Obviously, we have the air gene and fish have the water gene. However, in very primitive sea creatures, they had both. Also, who knew that a portion of the thousand-or-so genes don't function? I was intrigued by the information Shubin provided us with: we traded smell for sight. This is because we, humans, rely more on vision throughout our daily life. It all made sense. Now I know why dogs have such a strong smelling ability, because unlike us, they rely more on smell. They can go from crime scene to crime scene or, even from toilet to toilet and find exactly what they're looking for.